Dhioth needs something removed from his mouth, but firestone causes a bad case of indigestion. K'ane makes Alecsei go in to fetch it out. Results are gross.

When

It is daytime of the seventh day of the third month of the first turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Weyr Plateau

OOC Date

Weyr Plateau

A stripe of packed earth designates the central route connecting the Weyr to prominent geographical and urban points outside of the walled complex. Pale knobby rocks line the roadsides, cast there by hand and foot with purpose in mind, lining the periphery in grades of pebbles to boulders. This site is under constant incursion from wind-blown sand and if not regularly maintained the road would eventually be interred. Silt becomes more prominent underfoot further east where the lake lies.

It's bright. It's sunny. It is VERY WARM considering what it was just a few days ago — and warmer in the sunshine. And what's that? Oh, right. K'ane is out in the middle of NOWHERE with Dhioth, apparently working on … purging some kind of last dredges of the bronze's ash-discard stomach. Dhioth HRK-HRK-HRKs like an overlarge cat, rocking back and forth to try to AID THE PROCESS along, and then tries to vomit forth the last bit of his stomach — it doesn't happen. Dhioth looks VERY UNHAPPY and VERY UNDIGNIFIED. K'ane just looks weary and tired and frustrated.

52 degrees is practically shorts weather. Not that Alecsei is wearing shorts, but he doesn't have a jacket on that's for sure. His interim job as messenger seems to be an on-going occupation for now as the teenager returns to the weyr via the plateau, tightly bound hides rolled up under one arm. But lets not call him a reformed citizen or anything, there's a bit of a sway to his walk. And maybe his eyes look a little red. And if you got close enough his breath doesn't exactly smell like mint. Even in his state, it's hard not to miss the hacking bronze dragon that's quite near to where he needs to walk past. He nods at K'ane as he moves to pass him, posture tight as he skirts around.

It's VERY WARM which is why a short distance away, there is yet another Mirage rider-and-lifemate pair. Ryglinath is studiously ignoring Dhioth and his current round of DIGESTIVE TROUBLES; ignoring, or allowing the bronze his PRIVACY for this great indignity. Teya is slightly less accommodating: the ground crunches underfoot as she approaches K'ane, hair a frizzy-curly fluff around her face and minus her flight jacket. "I always feel so bad for them when they," she gestures toward Dhioth, Dhioth and his HRK-HRK. (You're next, Ryggles, don't get too cocky over there.) Incoming Alecsei gets a tossed-off wave as he SKIRTS around where she approaches directly. HELLO.

"YOU!" K'ane swivels and POINTS at Alecsei. "Boy. Yeah. You. You'll be perfect. C'mere." He's a skinny boy, right? "I think he's got somethin' lodged up there. DHIOTH. Open up." The bronze obediently unhinges his MAW, the floor of his chin flat against the ground. "I think it's back there by th' back right tooth. That one right THERE. But I can't reach it." K'ane points at it. "Go fetch it, would you? Thanks." That's a WHOLE LOT of assumption, but K'ane turns to Teya without a pause. "They are so horribly.. pitiful."

Oh, look, another rider. Alec is polite in his own totally awkward and twitchy (as well as possibly inebriated) sort of way, he nods at Teya. And yes, soon he'll be free of the scary looking scarface bronzerider and the vomiting bronz- "…What?" He stares wide-eyed at K'ane and then up at Dhioth's big open maw, he takes a step back however he doesn't flee quite yet. But it should be apparent he's not just going to jump to stick his hand in there. "No. Sorry." It's short, clipped, but quietly spoken as he drops his slightly unfocused gaze back to K'ane and then the woman with him.

"If you don't do it," oh, okay, Teya is apparently GOING ALONG with this, because Dhioth really IS just THAT PITIFUL with his troubles, "then he'll end up asking me, and you're-" she gestures up in the air in front of her, over her head-height to indicate height. "He won't swallow. I promise." In the middle-distance, Ryglinath HUNCHES and HRK-HRK-HUCKs. Nothing to see here. Dhioth, gj on being a distraction. Teya, sadly, does not leave him to his purging uncommented: "…gross."

"I don't think y'heard me, boy. You live here?" K'ane pivots SLOWLY to put the full force of the weight of his regard onto the poor kid. "Then y'get to work for it. Come here." He reiterates the statement, pointing in front of him. Dhioth still has his jaw open, though his eyes start to whirl more blue instead of orange - something's up. And then, if/when the lad gets closer, sharp eyes… "Are you high?" He trades a glance over to Teya. No jokes on swallowing from this corner… at the moment at least.

That bleary gaze cuts to Teya, now definitely suspicious of her if he wasn't before. "Can't you just put a branch in there?" Like a giant sort of toothpick. And while he may smell of booze and his steps are uncertain, his voice at least remains steady. He's a step behind in answering K'ane, but maybe that's because he's weighing his options out here. "Yes." He lives here. Unfortunately it would seem. With a resigned sigh he steps forward, eyeballing Dhioth's open maw. He's oblivious to any eye color changing going on here. For the next, he shakes his head. "No." At least it sounds like the truth.

"…you," Teya realizes she's forgotten a key word, here, "He won't swallow you, I meant." She wrinkles her nose as Alecsei gets near enough that they can smell him. "We don't have a branch, either, we have a messenger. A," she side-eyes her lifemate, but he's still ignoring them in the hopes that they ignore him, "conveniently-arriving messenger. Are you drunk?"

"Drunk, then. Good, you won't stiffen up in there. Come on. He won't eat you." K'ane GESTURES. "I'll even stand at the front of his mouth if y'want. He definitely won't chomp down if I'm in there too. I just can't reach it." But Mr. Skinny Arms certainly can, right? "It'll be fun. I'll pay y' some money for it, too." LOOK THERE IS A REWARD KID. He eyes over to Ryggles after a moment, squinting. Oh hrking. Poor Rygs. Dhioth stays still, like the Cave of Wonders or something, just waiting on some poor monkey to pull the wrong trinket.

"Yes." He's definitely drunk. In the middle of the day. And apparently gone enough to not quite realize that you shouldn't just go admitting that to everyone. But he's also like what, twelve? Fifteen? Young enough to not be smart. He looks distinctly unimpressed with K'ane's declarations of his safety. "Money?" That gets his attention. He'll risk his life for marks, sure. Stepping closer to Dhioth he stares into his mouth, swallowing and furrowing his eyebrows. "Where?" He asks before leaning into the dragon's maw, skinny arms digging around in there. The sound of him making a disgusted noise can probably be heard and maybe the quiet mutter of, "Smells like shit in here."

"Firestone ash," Teya corrects, because accuracy in all things. "Smells like firestone ash, and — second stomach." So basically shit, from the other end. Ryglinath has finished his godawful binging, at least, though there's still some residual herk-hm, like someone trying to clear their throat and ignore the fact that they were just hurling in the bushes. Dragons are classy. "Sounds like you've almost got it."

"Think you're gonna have t' crawl in there a ways." A dragon mouth is a HUGE THING, and y'know, Dhioth isn't necessarily a small specimin of such. "It's okay. His tongue can take your weight." Dhioth stands patiently for all of this. "It's on the right side, behind th' last tooth. I think," K'ane's voice goes distracted, "It's about th' size of a man's fist, but it's gummin' up all the works."

Unfortunately Alec can't hear Teya's explanation over the sound of Dhioth's unhappy rumbling digestive system. All he knows is that Dhioth's mouth smells awful. "Better be marks in this… Or I'll…" What he's going to do gets lost as he crawls further into the bronze's mouth. Probably better that no one actually hears it. Finally in place, the teenager reaches behind that last tooth on the right. He digs his fingers into the mystery object, gagging reflexively as he does so. "I'm going to hurl." Did they hear that? Hopefully not.

OH AND NOW HE'S DONE IT. With that last dislodge of sticking matter, Dhioth quite suddenly UPCHUCKS the remainder of his ash-stomach. HRK. Sorry Alec.

That wasn't a bluff. Upchuck lands on Alec. He vomits into Dhioth's mouth. Not as much as he vomits onto him, but. It's gross. It's all gross.

"Oh," Teya says, because that is the best response in this situation, "…possibly we should have seen that coming." Boy is SHE glad Alecsei showed up, though. MAN. COULD HAVE BEEN HER IN THERE.

VOMIT EVERYWHERE. K'ane, tactfully, takes a few steps back as Dhioth retracts his head QUICKLY at the taste of HUMAN vomit in his mouth. UGH. Depending on how Alec's balanced, he could get booted out of that huge-ass maw right at the surface… or it could be from a few feet's height. But vomit and Alec are being dispelled from his mouth as he HRKS again, involuntarily expelling the very last of his ash-stomach as just a LITTLE MORE insult to injury.

At least Alecsei doesn't have expensive duds on. Or expensive anything for that matter. When Dhioth begins to move he tries to scramble on out of there, but it doesn't quite happen the way he wants and so he ends up landing on the ground rather unceremoniously. The breath is expelled from his chest in a whoosh and he drops onto his back, wheezing to catch it again. Finding a dry spot on his shirt, he wipes his face off. Then reaches into a side pocket on his pants, pulls out a dinged out flask. And takes a drink.

"I apologize on behalf of, uh, Igen." Because somehow this is the fault of the Weyr. Somehow. "Also, wow that was gross." Teya elbows K'ane, pulling her hand out of her pocket but keeping it cupped. Elbow, elbow-elbow, to draw the bronzerider's attention to whatever's in her hand. Then she nods at Alecsei, and back down to her hand, and makes a weird little shrug with her face. "You okay, guy?"

"So uh," K'ane starts. "Y'did good, kid. I think you've got a knack. Whatcha think? Good go at it? Y'wanna join up?" What the fuck are you rambling about K'ane? Really. "Dhioth says even though you taste like a middens-fart, bad decisions and drunken regret, y'could be a good one." A good WHAT? He belatedly looks down at the cupped hand and flips Teya a THUMBS UP: he was a step ahead of her in his confusing RAMBLE of offering. As an aside to her: "That was really fuckin' gross."

Alec eyeballs Teya from his spot on the ground, as if she's even more responsible for this than K'ane is. Or Dhioth. She could have saved him, been the voice of reason. But noooo. He takes another swallow from the flask, attention flashing back over to the bronzerider. "Yeah, sure." Also, he has zero idea what he's agreeing to. And maybe he wouldn't normally, but his been vomited on and he's sort of drunk. So apparently, why not?

Teyaschianniarina probably is responsible for this at least in part. Somehow. She could have volunteered! "That was grosser than Rickety coming out," she asides back to K'ane, "like, really gross." But his THUMBS UP earns a flash of a lopsided smile, which BRIGHTENS when Alecsei ACCEPTS. Magnanimous, she steps forward - then thinks better of a direct approach. She circumvents the dragon-hack to produce the knot in her hand, all pristine and ominous-white as she places it on Alecsei's shoulder. "GOOD life-decision," she tells him, stepping away. "You might want a - bath. Before you hit the barracks."

"Excellent. The lake is right over here. We can dunk y'before we take you back, Candidate." K'ane sounds chipper. "Dhioth needs t' wash his mouth out anyhow." What? Oh, that's right. The man's already heading for the lake, probably just expecting the others to follow him. LALALALALALA all in a day's work.

What does this knot mean? Alec wrinkles his nose and stares down at it on his shoulder, reaching up to pluck at it with vomit stained fingers. So much for it being pristine. Rather than ask something more helpful he comes up with, "…Good life-decision?" Yeah, he usually doesn't get that one. "Candidate?" And then K'ane walks away. He stares at Teya for another long moment before he drops his head back down onto the ground. He starts digging around in his pockets again, his smokes can't be upchuck-soaked, right? — Don't mind him. He'll be along to get his bath in the lake eventually.